good mystery, male narrator's character fairly well developed, but everyone else is very thin, including the girl who was burned. ( )

CW: Self-harm

2.5 Stars ( )

Working my way through the Truman and Gateway nominees for this year. This one was decent enough.

This story is told from the POV of a misfit high school senior. He falls in love with a girl who was the beautiful high school queen but only after she has been horribly scarred in a hate crime. He decides to find her attacker because he thinks the police aren't working fast enough. The main method he uses in hacking and evidently he's the whiz to end all whizzes at it.

The biggest problem with the book for me was that the characterization was not quite there. Everyone seemed almost a caricature of high school types with no real depth. The mystery was so so.

Overall a middle of the road story. ( )

I read this novel a couple years ago and was petrified of the idea of one's life being completely changed in such a horrific way. I've never read a novel about a certain event like this, but in today's society we have people actually doing these types of acts to other people. I like the idea of a mystery/thriller, the not knowing part of what I'm gonna find out next, or is this person really capable of--(SPOILERS) throwing acid in someone's face? When I read this novel I dissected each character and thought up all the possible scenarios of why or how. Whenever reading any book, I always guess what's gonna happen next and sometimes actually end up being right, but I found with this novel I was constantly guessing. I strongly enjoy a males perspective in any novel. I highly recommend this novel because I enjoyed it and would re-read it anytime just for a good read. ( )

This was a great little mystery with interesting characters. I loved Jay's voice, he was charming, slightly geeky and a whiz computer hacker. Although narrated by Jay, the story is inter-dispersed with emails, entries from Nicole's journal and psychiatric notes giving more depth to the story. I also liked the fact that neither Jay or Nicole were perfect, both had physical and emotional traumas which made them more realistic and likeable. Although there was a slow, gentle romance throughout "Burning Blue" the book was predominantly a mystery thriller and it was difficult to guess who was behind the acid throwing until it was finally revealed. Overall, a very enjoyable story about friendship and the meaning of true beauty. ( )